College works with industry to prepare students

CARLSBAD  Preparing students to join the workforce by working with local industry leaders is one of top goals for MiraCosta College, the school’s President Francisco Rodriguez said Wednesday in his annual Report to the Region.

More than 200 local business, education and elected officials attended the event, where Rodriguez spoke of the crucial link between education and the local economy.

“Working alongside our business partners, we have identified the local industries that need skilled workers and (we) are offering the curriculum to train students,” Rodriguez said. “And at the end of this training is a job.”

One of the ways the college is preparing students is by making sure they have the classes they need, he said. That means having the necessary facilities and reducing class wait lists so students can get their degrees faster.

In August, MiraCosta opened a new $1.9 million science building on its Oceanside campus that houses two state-of-the-art lab classrooms.

He said a lack of space has kept hundreds of students each semester from being able to register for lab courses in biology, chemistry and nursing programs.

Soon, the school will begin construction on another science building at the San Elijo campus in Cardiff, Rodriguez said.

MiraCosta also recently received a $2.7 million federal grant to create a new Technology Career Institute aimed at filling a growing demand for qualified machinists and industrial technicians in the region, he said.

The grant from the Department of Labor will help enroll nearly 700 students in the program, which will train students for careers in various industries, such as high-tech manufacturing, maritime technology and biotech manufacturing.

“We are now developing a comprehensive training facility that will prepare participants, including returning military veterans and the unemployed, for high-skilled, high-paying employment,” Rodriguez said.

Ron Mitchell, president of the MiraCosta College Foundation and a principal at a local certified public accounting firm, said MiraCosta’s influence is felt throughout the community.

He said he attended the college, and so did several of his employees.

“Even in my own company, we have people who at different stages went to MiraCosta,” Mitchell said. “We have a mom in her 50s, whose kids have gone away and didn’t have a degree, went back to college and got a degree. We also have a Marine at our firm who went to MiraCosta. And the great thing is that I get to be a part of that opportunity.”